Brown Eyed Susan's

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a family with young kids on a long road trip must be in want of a chip truck"

When: June 18th, 5:50pm

Where: Bailieboro, ON off Hwy. 28 between Peterborough & Port Hope (Map)
Exterior: Brown Eyed Susan's is a well-establish venue, with a permanent building and a big awning. There are separate orders to order and pick up your food, and all the staff are wearing 'Brown Eyed Susan's' t-shirts. There are three picnic tables covered in plastic table cloths and garbage and recycling on site. An old stove has been turned into a planter with yellow flowers growing out. The chip truck is located at an Econo gas station (gas price = 99.9cents/litre)

Menu: Chicken nuggets, hot dogs, fries, drinks (including 2% and chocolate milk). There's also a kid's menu!

Condiments: Ketchup, 2 kinds of vinegar in spray bottles, salt


The Chips: I ordered a small fries and a diet Coke ($4.00). The fries came in a container inside a paper bag. They were very good: not too crispy, not too salty, medium cut. The inside was soft and tasted almost sweet. They were a perfect temperature when I got them - just on the hot side of warm.

Major Discovery: A major problem at chip trucks is the even distribution of condiments throughout the whole serving. My preferred technique for solving this issue is to make two trips to the condiment stand, but of course this is not always possible, so I am always looking for new techniques. At this stand, I saw a guy shaking salt through the fries on the top and then evenly distributing the salt tapping the sides of the bag. This is a technique I am VERY familiar with for popcorn seasoning at the movies, but I had never thought about it for french fries. This will only work for certain kinds of containers, but it seems like a useful strategy.

Does anyone else have any great techniques for condiment distribution?

Quintessential Chip Truck Moment: While I was there, a family with three kids under the age of 8 pulled up. One kid was crying, one kid was tattling on the crying kid and the third kids was complaining that the tables were dirty. The mother was ordering hot dogs & fries as the father was dealing with the crying. She gave me a look like "what can you do?" As soon as the fries arrived, there was satisfied silence among the children and a look of momentary relaxation on the face of the parents.